Kamberg , South Africa -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Sunlight sparkles through the drops of water that tumble off the edge of the cliff . Painted on the rock face behind the tiny waterfall are a pair of faded eland , the largest antelope in Africa . Behind them are two barely visible human figures .

`` This is a sacred place , '' says Raphael Mnkhati , a guide from the Kamberg Rock Art Center . `` Water is important for all life , and it was important for the people who lived here . ''

The tiny cave behind the waterfall is only one of thousands of such hidden , secret shelters in the Drakensberg-Ukahlamba Mountains of South Africa . They were the home of the Bushmen , the original inhabitants of this country , who fled to these mountains to escape other Africans moving down from the north of the continent and white settlers moving up from the Cape . The Bushmen were wiped out in the countless conflicts that resulted .

Read previous David McKenzie and World Cup in a Winnebago Today they are a vanished people , but their legacy remains in the vibrant paintings they left behind on the rock walls of their shelters . `` It 's hard to date these paintings , '' Raphael explains . `` Some could even be as old as 8,000 years . ''

Scattered throughout these mountains are some 60,000 individual images , visible at about 600 different sites . The artists used the blood and fat of the eland as well as whitened clay , bird droppings and charcoal as pigments . The delicate lines of the figures were etched with twigs , porcupine quills and ostrich feathers .

Scientists believe that these figures were created by the Bushmen while they were in trance states , and that the paintings reflect the people 's deep reverence for the beauty and power of the natural world that surrounded them .

Higher up the mountain , hidden in a giant overhang at its very crest , is a remarkable fresco of hunters , antelope and mythic figures , known as therianthropes , which are part-human , part-animal beings .

The paintings stretch in a long gallery across the rock face that extends for at least 30 meters under the stone roof . It frames a spectacular view of the tall peaks and the distant valley far below .

`` You are not allowed to touch anything , or to collect anything here , it 's a like a church , '' Raphael tells us . `` And this is why it is important for the Bushman people . Still today many people take their shoes off when they visit here -- as a sign of their respect . ''

One of the most well-preserved and mysterious panels in the Kamberg series shows a mythical human-like figure tugging the tail of an eland . Some scientists believe that this a sign of human recreation , almost sport , created by the artist -- or artists -- in a transcendent state of consciousness .

Raphael has been coming here for years , and is now studying rock art through university , but the beauty of this ancient gift left behind by lost generations has not faded for him .

`` The Bushmen are very special , '' he muses while looking out over the wide landscape that stretches out below , `` because they were living here , peacefully , in the mountains . We are all from the same origins . I feel very proud about this place and of the rock art that is here . ''

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Guide believes that some of the paintings could be 8,000 years old

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Scientists : Figures were created by the Bushmen while they were in trance states

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Artists used blood , fat , whitened clay , bird droppings , charcoal as pigments